STOCKHOLM (AP) — Divers have discovered what is thought to be the world's oldest drinkable champagne, fishing a bottle of the centuries-old bubbly from a shipwreck in the Baltic Sea.
Dive instructor Christian Ekstrom says the champagne, believed to be from the 1780's, "tasted fantastic." Ekstrom said Saturday he's "98 percent sure" of the champagne's age, having conferred with experts.
About 30 bottles are believed to remain in the wreckage. Swedish wine expert Carl-Jan Granqvist says each bottle could bring as much as euro50,000 if the corks are intact and the age and authenticity can be proven. Samples have been sent to champagne laboratories in France for testing.
The bottles were discovered Tuesday near the Aland islands, in the Baltic Sea between Finland and Sweden.